Saturday, September 26, 2009

Sometimes, I have a hard time separating myself from the enormity of the mistake that my countrymen/women made in November, 2008. I want to stand on the roof of the tallest building I can find & scream at the top of my lungs,

"I TOLD YOU SO!!"

But that might not go over so well. It tends to make people (who know they've been made a fool), well - defensive. Best to try & get those people back on your team. Best to give them a way to save face while admitting the error of their ways...

"It tends to make people (who know they've been made a fool), well - defensive. Best to try & get those people back on your team. Best to give them a way to save face while admitting the error of their ways..."

Bad assumption. Few people I know feel they've been made a fool. Obama has fooled none of us, at least not in the way you think. We have not now nor will we ever have any regrets for our vote considering the alternative.

Obama is not perfect, but he is not what deluded folks like you spend your time shaking in your boots about.

The problem from our point of view, and most who voted for him, is that he is trying too hard to woo the Republicans and not enough going for health care reform, like single payer, energy independence, and education that will help this country lead the world in the future.

Jim~ Methinks you doth protest too much...(thanks for coming back - I was afraid we'd lost ya!)

Single payer? You mean government run healthcare? You mean socialist/communist/fascist Obama IS what folks like you were HOPE-ing for?? Please. Education REFORM?? You mean like his buddy Chavez did in Venezuela?? Anybody who COULD, got out of there while the gettin' was good. Those who're left are indoctrinated by that Fascist S.O.B (yeah, I said it!!).

NOT MY CHILDREN, Jim.

If you don't think he is what we (those who're waking up) KNOW him to be, then step aside friend, b/c We The People are on the move.

Hiya Suz ... good post as usual. All I can do is a big LOL at the obamanoids and the huge mess they're making. I am paying very close attention to what is happening on the deckplates regarding healthcare. This socialist has everyone in the health care community so frightened, they're trying to gouge out that money any way they can. You can see in the form of apprehension on the part of insurance companies when it's time to pay up. You can see anger at the mess he made of the cash for klunkers program. The cruel fact is, obama has no administrative experience on which to draw, and it has filtered down to what few programs he's tried to, well, administer .... failures, all. And he wants to do WHAT to health care? The other cruel fact you've pointed out already. It's the worst case of voters' remorse in many decades. Obama *has* to be an idiot! Nothing else explains why he can't pass anything but hot air so far, even with a congress full of fellow socialists! He can't even use a rubber stamp properly! You're right ... Obama watching is good for a laugh.

However, 30% of Americans are on Medicare or Medicaid, and many more are either on the VA program or the government employee program. All are single payer programs. Are they socialist? Maybe. Do I have a problem with that? Nope, and neither do they and neither does probably 95% of the world.

And BTW, something like 75% of Americans favor a "public option."

"You mean like his buddy Chavez did in Venezuela??" Nope. Chavez is not the President's buddy and Obama is not modelling any American educational policy after Venezuela.

No, I don't think he is what you say he is. "We The People are on the move." Knock yourself out.

"Those who're left are indoctrinated by that Fascist S.O.B" How Christian! President Obama doesn't teach in my school district. Neither is he a member of the school board. That said, our teachers were free to show the President's speech encouraging children to be successful, and almost all did. Why wouldn't you want to encourage children to be successful?

RWL~ "The cruel fact is, obama has no administrative experience on which to draw, and it has filtered down to what few programs he's tried to, well, administer .... failures, all." No admin. exper., no BUSINESS exper., never had to meet payroll, & hardly any Gov't experience. And he wants to 'rebuild our country brick by brick'???

Gramma~ So glad to have you back! about people on the move...I sure do hope you're right. Keep up the good work out there, my friend.

Fuzz~ Me too.

Cherries! Glad you came by. Have seen your comments elsewhere; welcome!

BetteJo~ "Definitely not perfect, but oh my gosh he knew what it meant to be president, he had respect and reverence for the office." Sing it, sister!

Z~ "I just saw 'eutychus''s comment...(I even miss Bill)... Man, that is something I FOR SURE didn't think would EVER happen!"I know...the irony is just astounding.

"All are single payer programs. Are they socialist?"Yes. Medicare & VA, I don't have a problem w/ - these are 'elderly' & people to whom our country owes great debt (medical care is the least we should do for them, IMO). Medicaid, I'm more conflicted about...I worked in community mental health long enough to see the good it does & the egregious abuse that routinely occurs...

"And BTW, something like 75% of Americans favor a 'public option.'"Um, name the 'poll' for me, the group administering it, data collection procedures used (i.e., biases), raw data collected, measures by which pollsters assimilated their data & drew their conclusions, & MAYBE I'll believe that finding isn't PURE HOGWASH when I see/read/hear it.

"Chavez is not the President's buddy..." Let's have some fun! Google/images Obama+Chavez+handshake & see what you get!! Good times!

"Obama is not modelling any American educational policy after Venezuela..."Ouch...sorry, but yes he is...

http://www.westernjournalism.com/?page_id=3410

Know how I found that? Google: Obama+ArneDuncan+education+ChavezVery interesting reading - including a gleaming section about Bill Ayers citing education as the "motor-force of revolution" & "teacher education programs should serve as 'sites of resistance,' referring to American society."That's hard-core stuff, Jim.

Ah yes the great uniter has spoken in a great dividing way. I think come 2010 they will be shocked when they are sent packing. Sure those areas that have fools living off the rest of us will reelect their morons buts the middle class that makes this country work is fed up with BOTH PARTIES and their BS. Enough is enough and the time has come to remove these cancers from our government body.It was the democrats in Congress over the last several years lead by Barney Frank and Chris Dodd pushing the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 and Fanny Mae with the help of votes from Senator Obama and the strong arm tactics by ACRON that led to the current economic crisis. And it was NOT inherited, as he always says to cops out. . And I agree, they should sit down and be quiet in shame.

He really thinks his win by a mere 2% is a mandate to do anything he wants and to allow him to tell 1/2 the country to sit down and shut up. We already know he can’t do math so obviously he is oblivious to the fact that he has alienated more than the 2% that put him over the top to win. One term is one term to long but it will be his only term.

I shook the Alabama Governor George Wallace's hand. That didn't make him my buddy.

The Western Journalism article is a hit piece long on innuendo and short on facts. When you have a statement like, "Incredibly, there’s nothing in the record to suggest that Obama objected to how Ayers used the Annenberg Challenge funds", you know you've got a load of crap on your hands. There's nothing in the record to suggest that George W. Bush wasn't humming "The wheels on the bus go round and round" when told the country was under attack either.

2. Double standard again: The President speaking in schools. We already went over this, and no matter what you say, the president didn't do anything wrong here, unless both Bush 41 and Reagan (who DID politicize his speech) were wrong too. Otherwise, you are operating on a double standard.

That being said, I still don't miss Bush. I think Bush, and so far Obama, will be looked at in the future as bad presidents. We didn't have much to choose from in '08, McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden. I really think we need a third party to rise up and do a better job than Perot did.

Boy Suz .... really rattling them liberals!!! So much so that the similes they're reaching for are not even closely related! I'd expect as much, since the socialists really have nothing with which to support any of their arguments. They're STILL trying to act as if G.W. Bush was some sort of idiot ... (wheels of the bus...). I think if you look at effectiveness as a President ... things that actually got done in the first year of the Bush Presidency vs. the noisy idle that Obaba is in ... still ... the socialists' case against Bush is nothing but air. Late air. Bush is not President any more. You see, they can only serve two terms. Talk about the wheels of the bus...

Sheesh! lol

Oh yeah, Suz .... I consider "Absolute Truth Hurts Absolutely" to be in the public domain. You can use it ... no charge, no subscription and no pop-up ads!

RAA~ "One term is one term too long but it will be his only term." I surely hope so! Maybe then we'll chat about missing him when he's gone! I won't be one of the ones doing the missing, though...

Jim~ In the broader context of who BHO is, who he has in place around him (communists, commie sympathizers), the actions he has taken (gov't takeovers of lots of stuff), his own words - repeatedly expressing socialist sentiments (bordering on fascist), I'd say that the "innuendo" of that piece I linked to is pretty darned telling.

Jim, I'll quote one of Joe's recent pieces: "If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, has feathers like a duck, swims with ducks..." You get the point. We deny ducks in our midst at our own peril. Wake up, friend.

James! Great! you're back!"And it is also called a double standard when you criticize a democrat for doing something that was okay when it was a Republican."You're assuming a lot about my opinions.Bush/Saudi - Bush's relationship w/ said Prince further beholdened us to Saudi oil, which furthered our dependence on them, which in part contributed to our vulnerability to terrorism. How's that?

Reagan/Gorb. - I seem to recall a certain, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!" 'nuff said

Nixon/Mao - Nobody knew what Nixon was doing going into China. That he did, still remains controversial...So, see? No double standard here.

Re: point #2Please see my comment to Jim above re: contextual placement of BHO's actions toward Chavez...then put them beside his recent behavior toward American schools (circumventing local school authorities, etc.) & declarations about American schools (kids should have longer days, longer school years, etc.). We deny the connections & their implications at our own peril, James.

I'll concede that we didn't have much to choose from in '08. That's partly why the cult of personality won.

Terri!! I'm SO glad to see you! I've been keeping tabs on your cabin. It has come a long way! Come on back soon, okay? :)

RWL~ "similes they're reaching for are not even closely related!" I'll admit to you (& Jim too) I didn't get how it related either. Didn't hang together, & didn't support Jim's argument very well. But, hey, it's his argument, not mine...

Oh, & I know a good quote when I hear one!! (You sure you don't want to 'monetize' that?) Thanks!

HAHAHAH! Love the end picture. Bush definitely had his faults to be sure but his is no Obama-nation. Thanks for stopping in at ye ol corndog ;-) I may throw a social commentary post in here and there but nothing like it was before. There's more to life ;-D

The only banks "owned" by the government are the ones that have been taken over and dissolved by the FDIC. This is by design and has been going on since the FDIC was formed by 1933.

The government has lent money to a number of large banks with a number of conditions. These banks, such as the one I work for are owned by the stockholders (like me) and not by the US government. In fact given the $700 billion bailout of banks in a sweetheart deal done by the Bush administration, I would say it's more like Goldman Sachs and the banks own the government, not the reverse.

GM went bankrupt. In order to save as many jobs as possible, the federal government and others took on the debt and the assets of the company. I checked out the company officers and the board of directors. None of them is named Obama.

The stated goal of the government involvement in GM is to help the company become profitable and then sell its ownership interest on the open market, possibly at a profit.

You may call this a government takeover. I call it temporary and an attempt to save thousands of jobs in many states.

Oh, and Unions? Unions are made up of employees. I and many employees of the company I work for comprise a sizable portion of the ownership of that company. So what?

@ Jim"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force."

"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the financial institutions, PHARMA, health insurance companies and oil companies are free to do anything they please as long as they keep buying the politicians, while the citizens may act any way they want as long as the don't get fired and don't get sick; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force of money."

All proved by the current health care reform situation. Government does not control health care because the health care companies control the government.

John Galt is alive and well as long as he isn't steamrolled by big business and he doesn't sell his patents to be buried by those who profit from their demise.

@ Jim"So you think that money is the root of all evil?...Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?..."

Another shrewd blogger phrases it this way: "Starting with MARX [emphasis mine], profit has always been thought of as some sort of deadweight; something added on top of all the other costs of bringing you a good or a service. If we could eliminate profit, people reason, then we could pay less for the things we buy, and we would have money left over to buy more things. We would be wealthier.

But profit is not an added expense -- it is an exchange. Profit gives someone a personal stake in eliminating all the other inefficiencies in bringing you a product. Profit is not simply the hundredth dollar on top of $99 of waste; it is the opportunity for someone to make $99 dollars by eliminating $100 worth of waste.

Jim~"The government has lent money to a number of large banks with a number of conditions." So that they could buy Treasury Bonds to support their debt, which by law they must do. Where's the bailout $? Went back to the Govt. - full circle. I'm no economist, but I'm thinking the govt. now owns those banks (kinda like my mortagage co. owns my house); except for the ones like BB&T who refused govt. $$ They stood their ground, but only after they were pressured/bullied (dare I say Steamrolled?) to take the $, or else. They decided on the 'or else.' Good for them.

"sweetheart deal done by the Bush administration"Should have NEVER happened. Should have been allowed to fail.

"GM went bankrupt. In order to save as many jobs as possible, the federal government...took on the debt and the assets of the company." I.e, the govt. now owns GM. Should have NEVER happened. Jobs would have been lost (it has happened to us, & not ONCE did we think about crying to the govt. for a bailout), but our economy would have righted itself eventually.

"I checked out the company officers and the board of directors. None of them is named Obama."Clever dear. Funny, BHO never even had to make a payroll before. Now as POTUS, he's FIRING/hiring CEO's! Rediculous!

"You may call this a government takeover." You are correct, sir.

"Unions are made up of employees." Unions power brokers are thugs of the govt.

"So you think that money is the root of all evil?" No, and I never even suggested that.

"Have you ever asked what is the root of money?"

@Alisa, I have an advanced degree in finance and have worked for a financial institution for over 34 years. I have owned common stock for most of those years. My salary, my investments, and my retirement are totally dependent on profit.

Don't presume to lecture me like I'm some sort of naive high schooler in love with Marx.

There is profit and there is profit. And there is how you gain that profit and there is what you do with that profit. What is your opinion of Ken Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, Andy Fastow? What are your thoughts about the investors and employees of Enron?

@Susannah

"So that they could buy Treasury Bonds to support their debt, which by law they must do. Where's the bailout $? Went back to the Govt. - full circle."

This is false. The money was used to provide credit to businesses and consumers. If they bought Treasuries, it was only as a 100% safe place to hold the money until it lent the money. As such it became a government obligation and an ASSET of the bank.

"I'm no economist." Obviously you are not. To the extent that the banks hold government debt (the treasuries), THEY own the government.

"Should have NEVER happened. Should have been allowed to fail." Your opinion, not the opinion of many, many economists and financial experts. But you're welcome to it. And as you said, you're no economist.

"Should have NEVER happened. Jobs would have been lost (it has happened to us, & not ONCE did we think about crying to the govt. for a bailout), but our economy would have righted itself eventually." Again, your opinion and not the opinion of many, many economists. The economy may have righted itself "eventually" but at what cost and suffering. The government will not own GM in the long run. Either GM will fail and be dissolved or it will eventually make a profit and the government will sell its interest on the open market. Many experts agree with this, and as you implied, you're no expert.

What payroll Abraham Lincoln make?

"Unions power brokers are thugs of the govt." Really, then how come they can't get EFCA passed?

@Alisa "the internal combustion engine." Really? And your expertise on this subject comes from where?

Jim~ Now that we have firmly established that no one wants me for their CPA or economic strategist (which I fully & humbly concede)...You're entitled to your expert opinion, as you allow me my nascent one.

The broader picture of my point is/was that the monstrous 'stimulus' $$ has not flowed back into the system as promised. We've not been 'stimulated' except, perhaps, in the imaginations of those who so desperately want BHO to be right about his socialist agenda. True, we're in a difficult pickle. True, BHO inherited some of it. However, what he has done in his 10 month tenure has been a colossal, debt-plagued failure. Thus, I miss GWB desperately.

My info

Friends with Big Ideas

"The cool and deliberate sense of the community ought, in all governments, and actually will, in all free governments, ultimately prevail over the views of its rulers." ~James Madison, The Federalist #63